Flap raised over shortened flagpole

The flagpole was put to service on Memorial Day. Joyce Roberts photo Perhaps you were passing through the center of town, or maybe you were on the Common for Memorial Day ceremonies. Something looked different to you, yet you couldn't quite put your finger on it.

It's the flagpole.

The formerly 100-foot pole that stands on the Town Common has been shortened by ten feet as part of a repair job. And that's not sitting well with some Historic District Commission members.

"It's legally protected as part of the historic district. We should have had a written proposal," said commission member Anita Fenton. "It should have been presented at a legal meeting of the Historic District Commission."

The historic district comprises the public buildings in the center of town, as well as the common and cemetery.

The pole was unique because of its great height, Fenton said. She estimated there were only two 100-foot flagpoles in the state.

The flagpole repairs were Selectman Frederick Goodrich's project. It had been in the works for two years, he said.

"The money was reserved by the Board of Selectmen two years ago. We reserved $5,500 in 2007 and again at the end of 2008. That was the cost of the entire project and the money was available," he said.

No flag had flown on the pole for two years, Goodrich said.

"The pulley was external and got frozen two years ago. It couldn't be used," he said. "I thought it was a maintenance problem. There has been virtually no maintenance done on public buildings or the town common and the pole was rusty."

In the course of installing an interior flag raising system, it was discovered that the top section of the pole was leaning at a 15-degree angle toward the Town Hall. Taking out a section of the pole relieved that problem and also made it possible to accommodate the interior raising system.

The pole was painted and by Friday afternoon a flag was unfurling in the light breeze.

Replacement poles had been considered, but the costs were very high — $26,000 for a maintenance-free fiberglass pole and $10,000 to install it, Goodrich said.

Goodrich said he had not thought of consulting the Historic District Commission until Town Administrator Charles Blanchard suggested it to him. The day before work started on the flagpole, Goodrich held an informal meeting with three members of the commission.

That notice was too late for commission members to do anything about it, Fenton said, and did not constitute an official meeting.

The Historic District Commission can be amenable to changes or modifications in the district, she said, "but there has to be a legal method. This is public ownership."

Fenton said she would like to have preserved the pole as it was and possibly add solar powered lights to illuminate the flag at night.

"[Goodrich] also had all the bushes pulled up around the Civil War monument. That's not his decision to make," she said.

Goodrich said the bushes were removed to expose the four cannons, whose muzzles are turned into the earth at the base of the monument.

"Those are 1861 cannons; they were used in the Civil War. When the cannons are turned down like that it was a symbol of peace at the end of the Civil War," he said.

Goodrich also said he would like to replace the wrought-iron fence that once was around the monument.

"It would have to be a replica. It would cost about $65,000 to replace that fence today," he said.

The flag will be raised and lowered each day by the Police Department.